Only I Walk Alone

It has been the 521st Spring Festival since humans were abducted by aliens, and this time, Wu Ge, Fox Immortal, Xiao Luo, Sister Ya Yi, along with the robot Xiao Chao, spent it together.

The Fox Immortal, the oldest among them, distributed New Year’s money to everyone, giving out ancient copper coins, which are considered priceless treasures outside.

The Fox Immortal gave each person a copper coin, saying, “Another year has passed, and everyone has grown a year older.”

After saying this, she patted the others on the head.

At this moment, in a large mansion in the capital of the Eart, the mansion was filled with an ancient atmosphere, decorated with couplets and red lanterns everywhere. However, it was very quiet, as this was the only mansion in the vicinity.

After all, they were leaders among the Earth civilization, regarded as gods above. At such times, they could only celebrate among themselves and could not join the festivities in the mortal world.

Fortunately, they had long been accustomed to a quiet Spring Festival. Compared to this mansion, the virtual world of the Earth was bustling with activity. People in the virtual world were setting off firecrackers, children were controlling their avatars to chase and play, and the adults began to “roam the streets.”

Due to the highly developed virtual world technology, the Earth civilization’s communication, learning, and most of their work were done in the virtual world, including entertainment and celebrating festivals.

Those who celebrate the festival in reality are mainly large families. For example, a demon race general like Hu Kong would gather all his disciples to celebrate together. Families like theirs, which have been passed down from hundreds of years ago, place great importance on tradition.

If it’s a divine religion, they would also bathe and change clothes on this day, then worship the gods.

Ordinary people mainly celebrate the festival in the virtual world, as it’s less costly and doesn’t pollute the environment, making it easier for everyone to gather, especially since relatives are separated between Earth and Mars, making gatherings too costly.

This has led to the virtual world being lively, while the real world remains quiet. This situation has been the case for 250 years. Wu Ge and the others do not comment on this. Although they celebrate in reality, they do not insist that everyone must celebrate in reality.

Times are progressing, and it’s normal for people’s ideas and concepts to change. Being like gods, the last thing they should do is to interfere with others’ freedom arbitrarily.

This year, Xiao Chao prepared everything again. It dispatched robots to paste couplets, hang lanterns, and prepare a large table of New Year’s Eve dinner. After doing all this, it received several copper coins from Fox Immortal, paper money from Ya Yi, pounds from Xiao Luo, and a 2008 version 1 yuan coin from Wu Ge, along with a collective thank you from the four.

Wu Ge used to collect coins, from the 1995 version to the 2025 version. These coins are now invaluable, but for Wu Ge, they only serve to evoke some memories.

It seems odd that Xiao Chao, like an old mother, takes care of the four people, being the youngest among them, but this is their relationship. After hundreds of years, they have grown accustomed to it.

Xiao Luo said, “In the years to come, we should also be together like this!”

A family should be together in harmony.

These five old folks have been through such a long time together, and in the future, the only ones who can accompany them are the other four old folks.

On New Year’s Eve, the old folks sat at the table for the New Year’s Eve dinner, tasted the soup dumplings and dumplings made by Xiao Chao’s chef robot, and on the first day of the New Year, they went to the lakeside for the noble elderly activity—playing mahjong.

Playing mahjong has indeed become an entertainment activity only for aristocratic elderly, as it has been successfully declared an intangible cultural heritage. Now, apart from some historians who specialize in the study of human history and culture, hardly anyone else knows how to play.

Besides mahjong, other activities like playing Dou Dizhu, square dancing, playing the game “Three Kingdoms Kill,” and “League of Legends” are all considered part of humanity’s cultural heritage, untouched by young people.

However, events like the World Cup, the Olympics, and the Global Finals have been carried on, but now it’s robot teams that participate in these competitions. The Earth civilization can only watch and not directly participate. After all, the physical conditions of the various races within the Earth clan vary, and it seems the earthlings themselves are not keen on competing personally. They prefer watching the competitions and betting on them.

Although they are robot teams, their strengths and personalities vary, and betting without insight can lead to losses.

Despite the Earth having various entertainment activities and holidays, some positions cannot take holidays, such as the current governing body of the Earth civilization.

Currently, the Earth is divided into four factions: the earliest Religious and Technology factions, later followed by the Military and Commerce factions. The supreme governor of the Earth clan is elected fairly from the leaders of these four factions, and the supreme governor is directly managed by Xiao Chao. All of his decisions must be reviewed by Xiao Chao.

Below the supreme governor are the Earth and Mars executive officers, and further down are the leaders of the continents, cities, regions, and streets. These positions, from the supreme governor to the street leader, are basically year-round jobs. While they enjoy power, they are also responsible for the people and must report any emergencies immediately.

However, due to the development of the virtual world, regional and street leaders can work from home, so they can also reunite with their families during festivals.

But high-ranking officials from the city level upwards cannot do the same, as the difficulty of management increases with each level.

Above the supreme governor are the five gods like Wu Ge, and since Xiao Chao takes on thousands of forms, Wu Ge and the others are not too hard-pressed, allowing them leisure time to play on the first day of the New Year.

It may seem easy for them, but if they encounter something that Xiao Chao and the Earth cannot handle, Wu Ge and his team must take action. After all, their strength is almost god-like.

Wu Ge has reached the Spirit Condensation realm, able to move and survive in space without a protective suit. Fox Immortal’s power is also unfathomable, extremely proficient in various demon arts. Xiao Luo, although a vampire, is a scientist vampire with various high-tech weapons. Sister Ya Yi has fully become a ghost deity, enhancing her strength through the power of faith, which allows her to move mountains and fill seas.

As for Xiao Chao, it has built unmanned factories on Titan and Callisto. Soon, it will be able to produce billions of unmanned warships. The construction capability of the mechanical race is not to be underestimated.

So, while the four were playing mahjong, Xiao Chao suddenly sent a message to Wu Ge: “The third Venus civilian expedition team has also disappeared. I dispatched unmanned reconnaissance drones to the site of disappearance, but still found nothing…”